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NPL Site Narrative for Lenz Oil Service, Inc.
LENZ OIL SERVICE, INC.
Lemont, Illinois
Federal Register Notice: October 4, 1989Conditions at proposal (June 24, 1988): Lenz Oil Service, Inc., operated an oil and solvent storage/transfer facility on a 2.6-acre site at Route 83 and Jeans Road in Cook County, Illinois, under several owners for over 20 years. In 1981, the company received a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to accept hazardous waste.
Early in 1985, three surface impoundments were constructed and used to store hazardous waste without a permit from IEPA. They were constructed of very porous and permeable cinder. Also on the site were five aboveground and eight semiburied storage tanks, as well as drums of waste.
On May 2, 1985, IEPA referred a lawsuit to the Illinois Attorney General alleging mismanagement of hazardous waste. On June 24, 1985, the DuPage County Circuit Court ordered Lenz to start immediate cleanup actions, file a cleanup plan for the site, and file a closure and compliance plan.
Lenz filed two cleanup plans that were generally deemed adequate. The owner took some action before stopping operations in November 1985. In April 1986, he filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Federal bankruptcy code.
In mid-1986, IEPA undertook a three-phase cleanup. In Phase I, IEPA inventoried and sampled all wastes. Drummed wastes were predominantly oils, solvents, and tar waste. The tanks contained mostly water contaminated with oils and solvents.
Soil underlying the facility is contaminated to a depth of 9 to 10 feet with high levels of organic compounds, including: 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. Ground water, both underlying and surrounding the facility, is also contaminated with organics: 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethylene, toluene, 2-butanone, and xylenes. Three on-site and seven off-site monitoring wells have been installed. Nearby private wells are also contaminated, forcing the owners to buy bottled water. A sampling plan is being developed to better define the extent of ground water contamination.
Phase II of IEPA's cleanup calls for treatment of approximately 7,000 tons of soils and sludges, 250,000 gallons of liquids, and 200 drums of liquid and semisolid waste by on-site incineration. Phase III calls for capping the site with an impermeable layer of clay and cleaning up ground water.
The facility acquired Interim Status under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when the owner filed a Notification of Hazardous Waste Activity and Part A of a permit application. This site is being proposed for the NPL because it satisfies a component of EPA's NPL/RCRA policy: the owner has demonstrated inability to finance appropriate remedial action by invoking bankruptcy laws.
Status (October 4, 1989): Phase II has been completed and the site capped and seeded. IEPA is investigating the possibility that Lenz will conduct a remedial investigation/feasibility study to determine the type and extent of contamination at the site and identify alternatives for remedial action.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.